county

Wythe County, VA

Demographic and economic profile of Wythe County, VA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Wythe County is a small rural county in southwest Virginia with a population of 28,219 that has declined 2.5% over five years, reflecting broader demographic pressures in the region. The workforce of roughly 15,800 participants (55.9% labor force participation) skews older, with a median age of 46.0, and has limited four-year degree attainment at 19.7%, though the 3.9% unemployment rate signals relatively stable employment. Housing costs are low—median home value of $172,100 and median gross rent of $718/month—and median household income of $57,745 sits against a 15.6% poverty rate, indicating uneven earnings distribution across the county.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

28,219

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$57,745

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

46.0 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-2.5% since 2018

Wythe County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone26,248 (93.1%)
  • Black or African American Alone644 (2.3%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races493 (1.7%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race376 (1.3%)
  • Asian Alone225 (0.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone103 (0.4%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish285
  2. 2.Other Indo-European132
  3. 3.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)37
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)34
  5. 5.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic24

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

19.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

22.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,636

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$53,443

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$33,564

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance2,617
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)2,418
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)1,465
  4. 4.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services1,236
  5. 5.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services1,012

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations4,259
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations2,399
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations2,388
  4. 4.Service Occupations2,001
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations1,459

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.18×)440
  2. 2.Manufacturing (LQ 1.83×)2,303
  3. 3.Retail Trade (LQ 1.21×)1,664
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.19×)876
  5. 5.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.12×)1,242

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$172,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$718/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

77.0%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9991,524 (15.8%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,081 (11.2%)
  • $300,000 to $399,999974 (10.1%)
  • $100,000 to $124,999788 (8.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999587 (6.1%)
  • $90,000 to $99,999543 (5.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

19.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

89.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

55.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$38,277

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

24.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

7.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone9,835 (81.0%)
  • Carpooled1,194 (9.8%)
  • Worked At Home850 (7.0%)
  • Walked150 (1.2%)
  • Other100 (0.8%)
  • Taxi19 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.